Cappella Mediteranea

Amore Siciliano


Love, drama and betrayal under the Sicilian sun: this ‘pasticcio’ of folk melodies and music by ‘learned’ composers was born of the love of Leonardo García Alarcón and the singers and musicians of the Cappella Mediterranea for Calabrian, Sicilian and Neapolitan songs dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

We hear music by Alessandro Scarlatti and Sigismondo d’India, both born in Palermo, as well as works from the extraordinarily rich collection of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Malta (notably by Vincenzo Tozzi). Leonardo García Alarcón even composed a five-part fugue on La canzone di Cecilia, associated with the heroine of the drama. The music was arranged by Quito Gato. This tribute to southern Italy by Cappella Mediterranea has triumphed on stage for years; now this recording immortalises it.

Cast

Ana Vieira Leite, soprano – Cecilia
Mariana Flores, soprano – Donna Isabella
Léo Fernique, countertenor – Santino
Valerio Contaldo, tenor – Don Lidio
Matteo Bellotto, bass – Giuseppe (Peppino)

Cappella Mediterranea

Stéphanie de Failly, violin
Rodrigo Calveyra, recorder, cornetto
Mélanie Flahaut, bassoon
Margaux Blanchard, viola da gamba
Eric Mathot, doublebass
Gabriel Rignol, archluth
Quito Gato, theorbo, guitar
Marie Bournisien, harpa

Leonardo García Alarcón, orguan and harpsichord, musical direction

Release on May, 10th 2024 on Alpha classics